While it would be nice to believe that Obama ascension to presidency is going to usher in a new era I remain staunchly pessimistic.

John Pilger points out that “Obama’s campaign was funded largely by rapacious capital, such as Citigroup and others responsible for the sub-prime mortgage scandal” and I guess He who Pays wins. Obama raked in a neat $532,946,511 while McCain came a tardy second with $393,668,650 contributions. So much for democracy – it’s all about cashocracy.

But that’s not all…

Despite Obama’s claim that “America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace” in his Inauguration Speech, 2009 threatens to see an extension of the War On Abstract Nouns. I think that most telling of his speeches was the one at the AIPAC Policy Conference when he said: “I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat – from Gaza to Tehran.” Because he believes “There is no greater threat to Israel – or to the peace and stability of the region – than Iran.”

As President, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade – investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation. First, we must approve the foreign aid request for 2009. Going forward, we can enhance our cooperation on missile defense. We should export military equipment to our ally Israel under the same guidelines as NATO. And I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself in the United Nations and around the world.

There will be no sudden surge of change in domestic or foreign policy because if there was any threat of that he would never have got to the White House.

Now he’s there he has appointed exactly the sort of people who will continue the good work of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagon, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman… you get my point. In case you thought they were nice guys below is the list of countries America has bombed since 1945:

John Pilger writes about his appointees if you still had any illusions…

Having campaigned with “Change you can believe in”, President-elect Barack Obama has named his A-team. They include Hillary Clinton, who voted to attack Iraq without reading the intelligence assessment and has since threatened to “totally obliterate” Iran on behalf of a foreign power, Israel. During his primary campaign, Obama referred repeatedly to Clinton’s lies about her political record. When he appointed her secretary of state, he called her “my dear friend”.

Obama’s slogan is now “continuity”. His secretary of defence will be Robert Gates, who serves the lawless, blood-soaked Bush regime as secretary of defence, which means secretary of war (America last had to defend itself when the British invaded in 1812). Gates wants no date set for an Iraq withdrawal and “well north of 20,000” troops to be sent to Afghanistan. He also wants America to build a completely new nuclear arsenal, including “tactical” nuclear weapons that blur the distinction with conventional weapons.

Another product of “continuity” is Obama’s first choice for CIA chief, John Brennan, who shares responsibility for the systematic kidnapping and torturing of people, known as “extraordinary rendition”. Obama has assigned Madeleine Albright to report on how to “strengthen US leadership in responding to genocide”. Albright, as secretary of state, was largely responsible for the siege of Iraq in the 1990s, described by the UN’s Denis Halliday as genocide.

Noam Chomsky had more to say on ‘Brand Obama’ on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He talks about Obama’s appointees and the election/advertising campaign:

So, every year, the advertising industry gives a prize, you know, to the best marketing campaign of the year. This year, Obama won the prize, beat out Apple Company, the best marketing campaign of 2008, which is correct.

2 Responses to “Change I don’t believe in”

Great article, except for one thing…I don’t think it’s fair to lump Carter in with all the other murderous presidents who’ve bombed countries at will since 1945. If you look at that long list of countries the U.S. has bombed, the years between 1976-1980 are conspicuously absent. If ever there was a U.S. president in the modern era who attempted to bring forth a policy of peace, it was Jimmy Carter. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Thanks for your comment Laura. Good point Carter wasn’t bad at all. Among other things he gave Vietnam draft evaders an unconditional amnesty and made strides with America’s energy policy. As presidents go he deserves a thumbs up – I have amended my blog post.